A new genus and species of maniraptoran dinosaur has been described from the fossilized skeletal material found in Inner Mongolia, China.
The newly-identified dinosaur species roamed our planet during the Early Cretaceous epoch, some 121 million years ago.
Named Migmanychion laiyang, it was a type of maniraptorian, a group of coelurosaurian dinosaurs that includes birds and some non-avian lineages.
Maniraptorans first appear in the fossil record during the Jurassic period, and survive today as living birds.
They are characterized by long arms and three-fingered hands as well as a half-moon shaped (semi-lunate) bone in the wrist.
Maniraptora is the only dinosaur group known to include flying members, though how far back in this lineage flight extends is still controversial.
The fossilized remains of Migmanychion laiyang were found at the Pigeon Hill locality of the Longjiang Formation near Baoshan town in Inner Mongolia, China.
“In the last decade, a new Lower Cretaceous freshwater fossil locality — the Pigeon Hill — has drawn extensive attention for yielding exceptionally preserved fossils of the Jehol Biota,” said China University of Geosciences researcher Yichuan Liu and colleagues.
“Although this new locality is far from the famous core area containing the Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, the uncovered fossils are similar and closely related in the two areas.”
Migmanychion laiyang is represented by an incompletely preserved skeleton including a partial left forelimb with complete hand.
“The new theropod material collected at Pigeon Hill differs from all the previously named taxa from this locality, and supports the presence of at least one new dinosaurian species in the Longjiang Formation,” the paleontologists said.
“The holotype material includes fragments of ribs, the distal end of one forearm, and a complete hand. Some dorsal ribs are preserved as middle shaft portions.”
“It shows a peculiar hand morphology different from all…
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